A Different Path
by The Insufferable Hypothetical
Summary: Nate's talk with Jenny goes a little differently. She's not going off the rails anymore, but that doesn't mean that she's going to leave the Upper East Side in tact.


_Disclaimer: This is purely a work of my imagination, borrowing from the Gossip Girl television series for my amusement and no profit. This section features some quotes borrowed from Season 3, Episode 16._

_Prologue:_

The ride home had been sobering, despite the fact that it had never been her intention to get wasted. Whatever Agnes and her model-groupies had given her, it had taken way too long, in Jenny's opinion, to get it out of her system. Now that they were almost back at the penthouse she chanced a look at Nate.

Her one-time crush was as collected as ever. He looked vacantly out the window, the lights from outside washing over him. Despite everything that had happened that night – that _year –_Nate was always there, always stable, always reliable...

She looked away from him as the car pulled up to the hotel.

Jenny grit her teeth and pulled herself together as much as possible, though she stayed under Nate's arm as they made their way into the lobby, grateful that Vanya had the night off and that the area was mostly empty. The lift was empty, too, and the ride up it silent.

Jenny was the first to speak once they made it up the lift. Steadying herself against the wall she stood upright, keeping her gaze averted. "How do I look? I don't want to worry my Dad..."

"Just play the exhausted card," Nate nudged her with his shoulder.

It wasn't a hard card to play, all things considered.

It was one Rufus seemed to buy, too. After they had reasoned away her lateness due to there being a lack of cabs, he let her go off to her room. Jenny thanked him and told him that she loved him, but noticed her father's expression still seemed a bit tense as he watched her walk off to her room. _'Dad's trust hasn't been completely restored I see.'_

Reaching her room she headed straight for her bed. Jenny collapsed to sit on the edge, head in her hand as she sighed deeply, thoroughly drained of all energy and still a little woozy. The quiet was good, it seemed to help her feel less drugged, but it felt like it had been a failed day and the lack of noise seemed to let thoughts that confirmed it through easier than she would have liked.

"Hey, you forgot your purse..."

Nate's voice trailed off as he spotted her; Jenny couldn't bring herself to move and consoled herself with the thought that he had seen her in worse positions. Surprisingly, that didn't make her feel any better.

She heard him sigh as she entered the room, and suddenly she felt even worse.

"You okay?"

Jenny inhaled quickly and asked the question with her eyes closed: "What's wrong with me?"

Her eyes remained closed as she felt the air move, and then the bed shift as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing is wrong with you." Predictable, yet comforting. Just not quite comforting enough. "What are you talking about?"

"Just," she shook her head, "just, I don't know- this year... And last year when I was homeless..._And _the year before when I stole that dress..." Jenny let her voice trail off with a sigh.

"Wait, you stole a-? Nevermind," Nate muttered as she looked towards him with resigned eyes. She was waiting for him to judge her; they both knew it. "You don't need to think about any of that anymore, Jenny." He finished quietly.

She couldn't help it. Maybe it was the drugs, maybe her mind was revolting against her, but every single transgression she could think of – and Little J had her fair share of skeletons both hidden in the closet and broadcast to the world – she _thought of_. Her head began pounding again and a weight stuck to her chest. She sighed but it didn't shift.

"Jenny, things haven't been the easiest for me either," Nate chuckled humourlessly. "Now, though, I'm happy; the bad stuff can only last so long before it blows over. My family, Serena... everything seems like it's worked itself out, for the most part at least. Things'll get better for you, too."

She snorted her disbelief. It was neither gracious nor attractive, but she really didn't care.

"Look, Jenny," Nate tried again, trying to meet her eyes. She grudgingly let him, head lolling slightly in her palm. "Despite what happened tonight, you could have blown this whole thing off but you didn't. You could have schemed yourself away from all of this, or tried to use the show to somehow get back at that model girl-" Jenny's eyebrows shot up "- I recognised her when I saw her putting you into a cab. You could have schemed and manipulated because you're good at those things; you've managed to go up against Blair enough times for everyone to see that. Although neither of you have figured out how to come out smelling like roses..."

Jenny was slowly starting to perk up, though.

"You did hear about my attempt to abolish the monarchy this year, right? Do you really think you should be putting Blair and me in the same category of...anything...?" Her tone was light, but there was still the need for reassurance there.

And then there was Nate.

"You would have once," he pointed out. "And so what if it didn't work out? _That_ is the Jenny Humphrey I'm talking about. You didn't run away tonight: you worked hard at something that I know you love. _That's_ my point. Despite everything that's happened this year, the best parts of you are still in there. You're smart, Jenny. That doesn't just have to mean keeping school-girls in line, or keeping up with things published on Gossip Girl, playing Upper East Side games... Whenever you let all of those things go, that's when you're _really_ smart. You play above everyone here when you do that, because it's something they can't do. You could probably still abolish the monarchy and change the way things work here if you really want to. You just need to be Jenny Humphrey when you do it and not and not Little J."

"Urgh. That nickname will haunt me to my grave."

There was the buzzing of a phone, and Jenny started fishing through her bag, looking a great deal calmer. Nate smiled a little.

"It's Eleanor..." her tone confused. "'Great job today you're hired. Lunch tomorrow." Jenny squealed in relief.

"See?" Nate smiled, "And I hope you learn from this," he continued seriously, "Mostly that I'm always right.

Jenny rolled her eyes still smiling. "Thank you, Nate." She hugged him briefly before looking back over her phone message in glee.

"You're welcome"

He patted her shoulder as he stood up to make his way over to the door, leaving Jenny alone with her thoughts.

And, whether Nate Archibald had intended to or not, he had given little Jenny Humphrey a _lot_ to think about.

_A/N: So, despite everything, Jenny Humphrey was one of my favourite characters on Gossip Girl while it was running. In theory I wouldn't have minded if they found a replacement actor for her when Taylor Momsen decided to quit the show to focus on her music. Instead, they wrote her out and I've always wondered what it'd be like if they hadn't. I don't think she would have gone as off the rails as she did and I genuinely think she would have played a larger part of the plot in very interesting ways. So I thought: pick a point where it all seemed to go off track and get her back on it, see where it leads. I have a good idea where this'll end up, though it's a VERY rough plan at the moment. Even so, here's to the experiment that is my first fanfiction. Thank you for reading :-)_


End file.
